barber



(No Model.)

I. BARBER 2 Sheets-Sheet L ROAD CART.

Patented May 5, 1885.

W [1'' III!!! a. PETERS. HwwU'hographcr. wnmmm 04 C.

I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

IRA BARBER, OF LA PORTE, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND JOHN F. CROFT, OF SAME PLACE.

ROAD-CART.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0.316,934, dated May 5, 1885.

Application filed January 21, 1884. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, IRA BARBER, a citizen of the United States, residing at La Porte, in the county of La Porte and State of Indiana, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Road- Carts, of which the following is a specification.

This invent-ion is designed to prevent the horse motion from affecting the body of the cart; and it consists in the novel features hereinafter set forth and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, and in which similar letters of reference indicate like parts, Figure 1 is a side View in perspective of my improved cart. 'Figs. 2 and 3 are enlarged details of the clamp for securing the supporting-springs to the axle. Figs. 4 and 5 are respectively side and front elevations of the cart-body detached, and Fig. 6 is aplan of the shaft-frame with the body removed.-

In the drawings, A represents the body or box of the cart, and B B are the shafts. The latter are connected in front of the box by the cross-bar B, and in the rear thereof by the cross-bar B". The shafts are supported upon the axle G by leaved springs D D, attached to the shafts at their forward ends by the clip d, and at their rear ends to the axle by the clamp ing device d. These springs are stiffest at the point where they are attached to the shaftsand weakest at the axle, so that the yielding is more pronounced at the point farthest from the horse. But one of these springs is shown in the drawings, the other being exactly the same. The device d is recessed upon the under side to receive the end of the spring, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 3, which is aview of said under side, and it is held to the axle by bolts (1 passing through apertures in its corners, and also through cross-bars d under the axle. The springs are placed at such an angle as will elevate the rear end of the shafts and box sufficiently to clear the axle.

The body is supported by a straight crosstorsion spring, E, located as nearly as may be under the balancing-point when the seat is occupied by the rider. The spring, being rigidly secured to the shafts at its ends,yieldingly resists any tipping of the body either forward or backward; but to sustain the front of the body when the rider is getting in or out, as well as to limit the amount of the tip in either direction, strapsff and f are secured to the front cross-bar, B, and the body, those let- M tered f acting to prevent excess of upward motion, and the one lettered f preventing excess of downward motion. These straps, being flexible,do not affectthe body in any way, except when they are strained. The spring is clamped to the shafts by the bolt or rivet e and the retaining-piece e, or is secured in some equivalent manner. By this method of hanging the body so it does not receive the motion of the shafts except through a torsion-spring located at the balance-point, and which spring allows the body to maintain its equilibrium, the disagreeable horse motion is overcome.

I claim 1. In a twowvheeled vehicle, the combina- .tion,with the shafts, axle, and side springs,of a

cross-spring upon which the body is mounted and which resists the tipping of the body relatively to the axle byits torsion, substantially as specified.

2. In a two-wheeled vehicle, the combination, with shafts, axle, side springs, and crossspring upon which the body is mounted and which resists the tipping of the body by its torsion, ofa front connection between shafts and body to limit the tipping of the body, substantially as specified.

IRA BARBER.

Witnesses:

MORTIMER NYE, O. B. ANDREW. 

